Since February 2025, two minors aged 11 and 5 years were taken out of Colombia by one of their parents —a well-known Mexican businessman— and to this day it is unclear where they remain.
What is certain is that the mother of the girls initiated a legal battle against her ex-partner, to enforce the order of the Supreme Court’s Cassation Chamber, which determined that the minors could not be separated from their mother.
No migration record
Amid this process, other points have come to light that are already being investigated by Colombian authorities.
Indeed, in a letter sent on June 17 to Gilberto Guerrero Díaz, Deputy Attorney General of the nation, the attorney for Melisa Zuluaga Castro – the mother of the minors – stated that there are no migration records that clearly and verifiably establish how the girls were taken out of the country.
In fact, she filed a tutela action that reached the Supreme Court requesting protection of her fundamental rights to due process and access to the administration of justice.
Therefore, on February 10, the petition was accepted and it was ordered that Zuluaga Castro not be separated from the girls and that her right to visit the minors be guaranteed.
The contempt
After that ruling, the defense of the mother of the minors, led by lawyer Luz Amanda Avella Pinto, claims that the judge’s order has not been fulfilled and that they still have no information about the 5- and 11-year-old girls.
In fact, they stated that the minors were declared missing by the Prosecutor’s Office and that there are two Interpol yellow notices seeking to locate the girls, who are believed to be in Mexico.
EL TIEMPO established that the Superior Court of the Judicial District of Pereira has just declared the director of the ICBF, Astrid Liliana Cáceres, in contempt, as well as the entity’s Board of Directors as the superior hierarchical authority, after the order not to separate the minors from their mother was not guaranteed.
Additionally, Cáceres was given 3 days to present justifications for the case and submit any evidence she intends to use in exercise of her rights of defense and contradiction.
The Court also requested the Human Resources office of the ICBF, or whoever acts in its place, to provide the ID number and appointment act of the General Director of that entity. So that the official can be correctly identified and individualized within this incidental proceeding.
The court also notified the Attorney General’s Office to exercise its control functions as disciplinary authority in light of the non-compliance with the tutela order.
What does the ICBF say?
EL TIEMPO asked the ICBF about the case and they assured that through the Subdirectorate of Adoptions, in its capacity as Central Authority for the application of the 1980 Hague Convention, the orders issued by the judicial authority have been attended to.
“Within this framework, Mrs. Melisa Zuluaga Castro has been informed about the status of the international restitution process. Likewise, on July 8 of this year, the prior requirement ordered by the Superior Court of the Judicial District of Pereira was answered,” they assured from the entity.
When EL TIEMPO asked how they explain that the girls were taken out of the country without migration records and corresponding permits, they responded: “The Colombian Institute of Family Welfare is not the competent authority to establish the circumstances under which the minors left the national territory nor to determine whether there was any breach of migration controls. In its capacity as Central Authority for the application of the 1980 Hague Convention, its functions are limited to processing and monitoring requests for international restitution of girls, boys, and adolescents, as well as coordinating cooperation with the Central Authorities of the other States Parties to the Convention.”
(Consult here all the articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit)
And they added: “The verification of the circumstances of leaving the country, the existence of migration records, and the possible commission of punishable acts corresponds to the competent authorities, within the scope of their respective functions.”
EL TIEMPO tried to contact the father’s attorney in Colombia to hear his version, but by the time of this edition’s closing, there was no response.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
u.investigativa@eltiempo.com
@UinvestigativaET
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